Recommend a PCI card

[will5125]

Well i have an old 2002 dell computer, and it only has PCI slots, so does anyone know of a good video card $75 or less, that plays games like WoW decently? Thanks everyone.

 

[vouslavous]

Well the best you could get is a 9400GT and 8400GS for PCI, chances are your CPU will bottleneck those cards anyway....

 

[will5125]

Well the best you could get is a 9400GT and 8400GS for PCI, chances are your CPU will bottleneck those cards anyway....

I looked them up, and they were PCI-E, Are there any 256 mb+ regular PCI cards that you know of?

 

[steckman]

No, vouslavous is right. You can get the 9400GT (512MB or 1GB), 8500GT (256MB), HD2400 Pro (256MB) or 8400GS (256MB or 512MB) from NewEgg in PCI. I listed them in the order of best performing to worst performing (I think). I don't know the rest of your specs, but I bet you could run WoW at 1024x768 with one of the first two cards.

 

[steckman]

Oh, and since you were asking for a recommendation, the Sparkle 9400GT 512MB for $74.99 (at NewEgg) is probably the best PCI card for your budget.

 

[psychicassassin]

I've tried 8400 GS PNY and the Windows XP stopped loading (the blue bar just stopped moving). No one has answered to the problem in my other thread, but I think it has to do with the low power output watts.

 

[steckman]

If it was a power issue, I think the computer would reboot. Have you tried going into safe mode and removing all display drivers?

 

[psychicassassin]

If it was a power issue, I think the computer would reboot. Have you tried going into safe mode and removing all display drivers?

Do you mean the driver for my monitor? Otherwise, I don't have any display driver since I bought my pre-built HP computer. It's A844n model if you still wonder.

 

[AKM880]

9400GT is the highest you can go with video cards for PCI It has 1GB memory and even supports HDCP.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187058

 

[rewindlabs]

9400GT is the highest you can go with video cards for PCI It has 1GB memory and even supports HDCP.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187058

....Why 1GB?

how in the hell could that be of any use?

not worth the extra $

 

[AKM880]

^ You are right, but really depends on his res. and gaming res. I was just making sure if he had a higher resolution monitor that would be the best one.

 

[AKM880]

Ahh, sorry forgot about the PCI bus, this usually is the slowest bus right now and its not really reccomended for a video card, I guess that the 1GB would be useless because the transfer rate would be slow. I dunno just a thought,

 

[rewindlabs]

Ahh, sorry forgot about the PCI bus, this usually is the slowest bus right now and its not really reccomended for a video card, I guess that the 1GB would be useless because the transfer rate would be slow. I dunno just a thought,

....the point of my original post..he shouldn't expect any gaming performance worth a .... from this system....well it could be acceptable for wow...

High res gaming on a pci bus.....*black guy* HAAAAEEEEELLLLLLL NAAAAWWWW

 

[kevinlikestv]

....Why 1GB?

how in the hell could that be of any use?

not worth the extra $

Why is that? Isn't more dedicated video memory always better? Seriously, I don't know. Learn me somethin'.

I too am looking for the best video card between 50-125$, in my case as a replacement for my 8500 GT, which only has one DVI. My application is pure home theatre (recording TV, watching internet programming, watching my own content in Media Center). I want to run two DVI signals simultaneously (24" LCD HP Monitor and Sony WPL 1080p projector) with the best results, and I am green on what the specs mean. Is the 9400 GT the best choice for me in your opinion?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[rewindlabs]

Are you on PCI as well or pci-e?

You see its only worth it if you can truly use it but alot of people will upgrade for 5$ even if they don't need it...for him gaming wouldn't make much of a difference as he won't be able to hit stable frames in gaming above the resolution of 1024x768...now you only need amoe than 512mb of vram past resolutions of 16xx/xxxx and it always helps to have the extra vram for games like crysis that use alot of vram at that resolution but below 16xx/xxxx resolution 512mb will do just fine....

Link to your pc Kevin and i can see which card you will need...shouldn't be a very expensive upgrade if your on pci-e

 

[kevinlikestv]

Are you on PCI as well or pci-e?

You see its only worth it if you can truly use it but alot of people will upgrade for 5$ even if they don't need it...for him gaming wouldn't make much of a difference as he won't be able to hit stable frames in gaming above the resolution of 1024x768...now you only need amoe than 512mb of vram past resolutions of 16xx/xxxx and it always helps to have the extra vram for games like crysis that use alot of vram at that resolution but below 16xx/xxxx resolution 512mb will do just fine....

Link to your pc Kevin and i can see which card you will need...shouldn't be a very expensive upgrade if your on pci-e

Thanks for your help!

My PC: HP Pavilion Elite m9000z CTO Desktop PC 3GB RAM

When I look up the specs on HP site, (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prodinfoCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3629361),
I notice the following:

Expansion slots: Two PCI
One PCI Express x16 graphics (for a graphics card)
One PCI Express x1 (for cards such as network, sound, tv-tuner)

Video graphics Integrated graphics using nVidia GeForce 6150SE
Up to 256MB (with 512MB or more PC memory)
Also supports PCI Express x16 graphics cards*

NOTE: *Either integrated graphics or the PCI Express x16 slot are usable at one time; they are not usable concurrently.

I think that when I ordered the PC (~18 months ago), I upgraded from the 6150SE to the 8500GT/512MB... but I don't know whether it is PCI or PCI-E. I'm not local to the PC right now, so I can't check via NVidia control panel (although I've read that what's listed there is suspect anyway).

Since I have a PCI-E expansion slot, it doesn't matter, right? I should be able to remove the 8500 (whether PCI or PCI-E) and put in the new 9400 in the PCI-E (or whatever card you recommend is best for my use case) slot and be good to go?

Again, just want the best home theatre performance I can get from this PC. I also do a lot of home video editing (DVI tape over 1394) using Pinnacle Studio software.

Best regards,
Kevin

 

[kevinlikestv]

And I should also probably note that my 1080p projector, over DVI/(HDMI adapter) is putting out the image onto an 8 foot wide screen. Don't know if it matters, resolution-wise, speaking of what media center would put out... and I'm on Vista.

 

[AKM880]

The 8500GT is practically almost not quite but close to the 8500GT. What are you planning to do with this card? Also please start another thread before asking questions. Thanks

 

[rewindlabs]

Post a link to the new thread you create...and what ever you do don't buy a card yet

 

[kevinlikestv]

Post a link to the new thread you create...and what ever you do don't buy a card yet

Here is the link to the new thread - sorry for breaking protocol!

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-263725_15_0.html

 

[rags_20]

9400GT

 

[kevinlikestv]

9400GT

??? But the 9400 appears to be a single DVI out...

"I want to run two DVI signals simultaneously "

 

[rags_20]

Sorry, I was replying to OP. Anyway, 2 9400GTs should do although it is a worthless expenditure @ $150. I suppose you get a DVI-VGA adapter?